


Bruce Banner - Drunken Confessional

by Skellyagogo



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Humor, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Anxiety, F/M, Female reader insert, Friendship/Love, Idiots in Love, Love Confessions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2020-09-03
Packaged: 2021-03-07 03:07:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26259901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skellyagogo/pseuds/Skellyagogo
Summary: Drinks that taste like candy and the girl of his dreams in the distance, what's the worst that could happen.
Kudos: 2





	Bruce Banner - Drunken Confessional

*I don't remember who asked for this because I can't read my own chicken scratch.*

Bruce could see Y/n across the room. She looked so uncomfortable and exhausted, swirling the ice around inside her glass. Staring into like it held her in a trance ignoring the conversations going on around her. He knew she despised these parties as much as he did, but she came because it was expected of her. Bruce was tired of seeing her like that, closed off and quiet. The way she hid everything inside herself and appeared distant in crowds. Then again he caught of glimpse of himself in the mirror behind the bar and knew he was no better.

Y/n found some people utterly tiring like they sapped all her energy just being near them, people like Tony. Others seemed to think that she was a wellspring of endless knowledge and advice, turning to her each time they faced some 'existential crisis' like Steve, Bucky, and Clint. She just wanted to be left alone. Conversing within large groups of people, especially those she hardly knew were rough for her. Bruce could commiserate with her on that.

Having to fake a smile and nod while listening to people droll on about subjects they hardly knew a thing about. Listening to extensive vacation plans to some exotic locale, or the new luxury vehicle they just bought. How much money their stockbroker just made them or the deal on the private island the bought somewhere in the world. It was insufferable sometimes. Neither Y/n nor Bruce cared for such things. The most expensive things either of Y/n or Bruce owned were first edition copies of books found by sheer luck in a run-down book store.

He hadn't meant to, but he drank more than he usually did. Sat at the bar sipping concoctions that tasted too good to contain any amount of alcohol but if only he knew. Glancing at her through the mirror behind the bar as the night went on. He was smitten with her since the first time he saw her and here he was years later pining after the woman who'd stolen his heart without even knowing it.

The night slowly progressed and the bar counter in front of him full of empty glasses. He could feel the buzz. The lightheaded tipsy good time feeling coursing through him. Bruce had been thinking as he sat there drinking that the others didn't see her the way he did. That they never appreciated her and it struck a nerve within him.

Ignoring the glare of the bartender as he stumbled off the barstool, he ambled over to the sitting area. Blurry bodies of people scattered throughout the room. Some shapes he could make out, like Steve. Others just seemed to morph and swirl into darkened blobs. Colors shifting in all of the spectrum almost like a kaleidoscope. Climbing unsteadily atop the nearest coffee table, he struggled to keep his balance as he stood up.

Giggling to himself though it was loud enough to catch the attention of all that was in the room. Bruce was feeling good, too good to keep his mouth shut and what was on his mind needed to be shouted to the roof tops. Coughing trying to grab the attention of the crowd. He turned slowly, almost falling off the table, making himself laugh.

"I have something to say," he slurred his words.

Emotions and feelings he'd kept to himself were now given a mind of their own. His soft chocolate brown eyes tried to focus, tried to find her. She might hate him or dislike him after tonight. Bruce wanted this weight he held inside off his chest. He felt a hand pat his arm trying to pull him down from the table but swatted it away. Clearing his throat, though a sly smile crept over his lips.

Bruce's body swayed atop that table. His fingers tugging at his tie trying to tear it off. His hands flying wildly around his neck finally tossing the offensively constricting piece of fabric in the face of a blurry mass on one of the couches. The scientist wobbled and wavered, faces coming in and out of focus.

Bruce was getting angry, starting to resent the rest of the team for not seeing her the way he did. He could feel Hulk raging inside, scratching and clawing to get out. He heard him roaring in his head. Stomping his foot on the tabletop, scowling at the people. Too many people that he didn't even know a quarter of them. People that just wanted a picture and a quick lay, or to suck up to Tony and get money for some scheme.

For as angry as he was letting himself get, Bruce found himself laughing and smiling. He didn't care that every person in that room was staring at him. Didn't care about all the shit that his friends would give him the next day or the hangover he was most definitely going to suffer. He moved too quickly and fell and everything went black.

~~

Bruce staggered down the hall towards the kitchen. The light was blinding and his head was pounding. The smells from the kitchen turning his stomach, but he needed water and coffee. Stumbling through the kitchen door almost tripping over his own feet he was met with laughter.

"Hail the conquering drunkard!" Tony clapped as loudly as he could to exaggerate the headache thumping inside Bruce's head.

Bruce grumbled trying to ignore them headed for the sink. Gulping glass after glass of water. His thirst seemed neverending. Sam saddled up next to him smirking pushing a bottle of aspirin in his hand.

"Probably gonna need that Romeo," Sam cackled.

"What?" Bruce coughed feeling every bit his age.

Barey anything that happened the night before was clear in his mind. He felt immense pain in his back, thinking he slept wrong. Slumping down in a chair at the kitchen table, reaching across for the carafe of coffee. God, he needed coffee.

"Didn't think you were a drinker Banner?" Steve hid a smirk from across the table.

"I'm not," Bruce avoided the gazes of the others.

"Could have fooled us with that performance last night," Bucky grinned pushing the sugar bowl his way.

"Huh?" The last thing Bruce remembered was sitting at the bar watching Y/n.

He remembered how smooth and sweet those drinks were. The fruity flavor that reminded him of a red Tootsie pop. They were cold and too good to stop. He didn't think they had that much alcohol in them, but the hangover rattling inside his brain said otherwise.

Bruce watched in horror as Tony pulled up a video from the night before. He watched himself stumble out of his seat at the bar. Stagger his way over towards the seating area as he bumped into the coffee table with his shin and cursed a little too loudly bringing attention to himself. He crawled like an unbalanced toddler trying to get on top of the table. Holding his arms out to his sides trying to steady himself. Giggling like a teenage girl. His head bouncing from side to side. A glassy glazed over look in his eyes.

"I ... has something ... to speak... assholes," he yelled at the top of his lungs.

Turning around on the table, his palms up, middle and ring finger of each hand bent and resting on his palm as he 'shot' webs out in the crowd as Parker did, he even made the 'psst' sounds as he did so. Steve stood beside the table attempting to get Bruce to come down.

"EVERYTIME!" He bellowed. The face of people around him confused and whispering, wondering what in the hell was wrong with Dr. Banner.

Standing up straight, tearing at his tie. Clawing at the fabric until it loosened and chucking it into Y/n's face. Seeing her wide-eyed, her mouth agape biting back a laugh. The longer she stared at Bruce staggering to stay upright on top of that table, the more the smile fell away. Bruce saw tears filling her eyes, watched through the video as they fled down her cheek. The burning blush that clung to her cheeks.

"Y/n's ... hot," he grinned proudly. Losing his balance he fell off the table and onto his back. Coughing and groaning, he yelled once again. "I LOVE HER!"

Everyone else at the table burst out into laughter. The jokes and the comments flying. Bruce groaned letting his head fall forward. Groggy and still out of it, the remnants of the alcohol still clouding his judgment. The heavy slap of his forehead at it hit the wooden tabletop only sent the others sans one in uncontrolled laughter. Y/n stood up glaring at all of them, pointing towards the door.

"OUT! NOW!" Y/n didn't think any of it was as funny as they did.

She didn't think his misery and the anxiety he was feeling at the moment was humorous at all. Bruce was embarrassed and he definitely had thoughts of leaving and hiding out somewhere else for a while. When no one at the table moved, Y/n walked behind them promptly smacking Tony and Sam in the back of the head as they were the ones laughing the loudest.

"You have 10 seconds to get out of this room or I will throw you out by the hairs on your tiny scrotums. NOW OUT!!" The venom and rage seething in her words sent them scrambling, even Nat and Wanda scurried out without a second glance.

Bruce covered his head with his arms. Bits and pieces coming back to him in fuzzy flashes. All those wonderful things he said were only in his head. Y/n sat in the chair beside him and set her hand on his shoulder.

"Did... did you really mean all that?" She spoke softly shifting in her seat. She had her index and middle finger of her free hand crossed in her lap under the table.

"I... uh..." Bruce was at a loss for words. He'd had so many wonderful thoughts in head. So many things he'd wanted to say to her over the years but the courage never came to him.

He felt Y/n's hand glide down his arm and come to a stop over the top of his hand. Her warmth, the smoothness of her skin on his. A tingly sensation swept through him. A power that flooded him, closing his eyes he saw the previous night's events through her eyes as she sat on the couch in front of him.

He felt the way she felt watching him. The curiosity, the wonder as he stood on that table, but it was hearing his voice inside her head. All the sweet things he thought he was saying aloud but he'd only spoke them inside his head. Y/n heard them. She heard every word, felt the way he regarded her. She felt love and adoration. The wonder and awe. He heard his voice as clear as day as he spouted all he'd kept to himself for too long.

"Y/n may seem at times naive and quiet, but her silence is there because you'd find her true perceptions of the world and people around her offensive and eerily accurate. Especially about people like Tony, he wouldn't like what she has to say because the truth hurts."

"She's tired and exhausted from caring for other people, managing their issues and their troubles because none of you seem to be able to handle your own lives without getting her involved. But not once have any of you ever brought yourself to spend even a second on her and what troubles her.

"She sees everything, hears everything, hell, she FEELS everything that goes on around her and it eats her up inside, but there isn't anyone she can turn to to get it out because no one would understand. I understand, I understand more than she'll ever know."

"She tries so hard not to care, to be cold and callous, but it's impossible for her not to care. It almost pains her when she tries not to help any of you. Sure she puts on a smile that's brighter than the morning sun, but take one look in her eyes and you'd see the truth. If anyone took even a glimpse in those brilliant galaxies, you'd see the anguish and torment.

"Some of you don't take her seriously out in the field or during a briefing because of her 'intuition' about a situation, but how many times has her 'feeling' about something been right? Gee, let me think, EVERYTIME! You wonder why she's quiet because none of you understand her. That woman can look into your eyes and stare into your very soul and discover everything about your essence and your being with just a glance.

"That dear sweet woman has a heart bigger than the world deserves and yet get on her bad side and you'll never see your demise coming because she will obliterate you with the cold hard truths you never wanted to hear. She's soft-spoken but her opinions are strong. She fights tirelessly for what she believes in. Not once have I ever seen her use her energy for personal gain unlike some of you.

"She's full of creativity and imagination, convictions, and endless sensitivity. You think her being sensitive is weak, but it's her greatest strength. She feels things deeply, like on another level, a whole other plane of existence and it makes me so jealous that I can't feel what she does. That I can't see the world the way that she does.

"Y/n is beautiful because she's overly emotional but unemotionally clingy. She's distant and private but when she's comfortable around you she'll share the most incredible bits of her life with you. She's sarcastic and funny with a loud mind and a soft voice. To hear her ranting away about something she's so impassioned over is a sight to see. She gives more than she takes.

"She's a hot steaming cup of coffee on a cold winter morning. Long drives on a dirt road late at night just to see the stars. Y/n is cereal for dinner and old books in bed on a rainy day. She is a delightfully real thing in a terribly false world and that is why she is the way she is and... and I love her."

Sitting up, leaning back in his chair, staring into those galaxy like eyes of hers. Bruce knew she had 'intuitions', but he never once considered that she was an Empath. Let alone know that she had 'abilities' and could transfer thoughts. To show other people what she could see, or feel. This sudden knowledge blew him away. Part of him despised himself because she had to have known all this time how he felt around her.

Y/n sat beside him with a shy smile and wide misty eyes. Opening the bottle of Asprin, she placed two in his hand and slid a cup of coffee in front of him. Bruce sat bewildered and ashamed. Opening and closing his mouth, no words wanting to come out. She pushed his hand to his mouth, popping the Asprin inside. When he didn't move to grab the coffee she put it carefully to his lips as he sipped.

They sat in silence while Bruce gathered his thoughts. Y/n could feel the nerves and the anxious energy that zoomed through him. Felt the flutter of his heart and the rush of endorphins pumping. This was why she never let anyone know what she could do. Things always change. The dynamic of friendships always shift. People drift away without a word. People ghosting her over the years had become the norm, she just hoped Bruce wouldn't be the same.

"Before you say anything," Y/n let out a sigh. She closed her eyes and dipped her head forward in hesitation. "I've never once... 'felt' anything around you because it's not right to know what's going on in other people's heads or how they feel. It's like an invasion of privacy. I'm quiet because I have to be to focus, to shut out how everyone around me is feeling. I don't like being like this, but it's how I was born. I can't... I can't help it and I hate it. It's only a matter of time before everyone knows and I'm left alone again."

Bruce sat watching her in awe. She appeared so ashamed, the little drop in her shoulders and the labored breath like she was moments from crying. It was like the roles were completely reversed. He should be the one sitting there in shame for his cowardice, not her for something she couldn't help.

"Yes," he muttered quietly catching sight of a single tear as it slid down her cheek.

Y/n misunderstood that single word. Her own emotions competing and buzzing, mingling with his. Throwing off any coherent thoughts in her brain. For the briefest of moments, she thought that singular word was about to end her world. Overwhelmed by two sets of raging emotional thoughts. Two sets of hearts pounding and banging around. Two brains pumping and creating chemicals that complicated everything.

She sniffled back a sob thinking the worst. That alcohol though what most considered a 'truth serum' was nothing more than a falsehood that helped spin sweet honey layered words that he didn't mean. Y/n thought of herself as a freak that was held hostage but abilities and emotions that drowned her with each breath.

Bruce leaned in closer, ignoring the knocking inside his skull. Pushing aside the anxieties dancing in his stomach. Gently forcing Y/n to look his way. Seeing those endless watery galaxies blinking back at him. The tears welling up threatening to break free from behind her lashes. She seemed so demure, so sweet, even though she was hurting, thinking she'd done something wrong.

Closing the gap between them he pressed his lips to his. Feeling her tense, the gasp that slipped between their mouths. He felt her leaning in towards him, her fingers gliding through his rumpled bedhead hair. She tasted sweet like vanilla creamer. Letting his forehead softly bump against hers, watching her eyes flutter open blinking back at him.

"I meant every word," he smiled sheepishly. "I just wish I would have said them outloud." He kissed the tip of her nose and wiped away her tears. "Come on, how about a cuddle and a nap. I'm guessing you're as tired as I am." Y/n huffed out a small laugh nodding her head with a smile.


End file.
